Quilting Show and Tell

I would like to share my husbands talents with you. I designed this wall hanging titled "Southwest Flavor". In need of a hanger my husband, Clyde, designed and made the one shown in the picture. Now how lucky can a girl be? To view a larger image click on the picture. The hangers can be purchased. They come in three sizes 14-1/2", 17", and 20-1/2". There's a slight variation in designs depending on size needed. For further information contact me at jaybeehive@yahoo.com. You can see more of my designs at http://www.quiltersfun.com/. I'm hoping to share a free pattern with you in a few weeks. It's quilted bookmarks. The instructions are written I just need to take pictures and get them in my computer. Have a great day and thanks for visiting.

Joan

Nifty, Quick, Quilt Hangers

I've come up with a neat way to hang wall quilts. I purchase a wooden shelf and drill holes, a little bigger than the diameter of a dowel, through the shelf supports. I used a 1/4" dowel. I then fed the dowel through a drilled hole, through the sleeve or tabs of my quilt, then through the drilled hole on the opposite side of the shelf. How simple is that and looks great too.


If you have a shelf without side supports just screw cup hooks under the shelf. One on each end to hold a dowel as shown below.


Have a great day.
Joan

Pinning Quilting Seams.

I'm back and getting ready for our local quilt show. In the meantime I wanted to share some information with you. As most quilters know life is so much easier when we can create opposing seams. These seams lock together. I have found through experiance that there's a little trick to pinning seams that aren't opposing. Pin the two seams together by sticking the pin in at an angle so that the edges stay even. When holding the pin straight up and down through the fabric and then slanting it the edges pyramid.
Till next time,
Joan

The Quilting Hints Continue.

I had a great Christmas and I'm ready to get back to my joy of quilting and designing.
I would like to share some info with you on borders. What to do if a quilt has two borders on it, the first a solid border and the second a pieced border? Don't cut the first border till the center of the quilt and the pieced second border is done. Not everybodies seam allowances are the same. Cut the first border the size needed to connect the center and the second border together. I call the first border a fudge factor. Hope this makes sense. It does to me but then I'm writting it. Any questions feel free to contact me at jaybeehive@yahoo.com .
Happy New Year!
Joan

No Time To Make a Quilted Gift? Try This!

A quick needle case for that special someone or a great stocking stuffer.
You will need:
Two pieces of fabric 4-1/2" x 6"
One piece of felt 2-1/4" x 4"
One piece of Wonder Under or fusible webbing of your chioce 4" x 5-1/2".
Two 1/8" x 6" pieces of ribbon.
Pinking shears

Assembly:



Using the Wonder Under fuse the two 4-1/2" x 6" pieces of fabric,
wrong sides, together. With pinking shears cut a rectangle 3" x 4-1/2" from the fused fabric.






Center the felt on top of the fused fabric. Mark the center of the felt and sew on the line.
Think of this as a page in a book. Don't sew the edges down. Mark the centers of the sides and sew the ribbons on using a zig zag stitch.




Fold the needle case in half and tie.
Warning: These can be addictive. I couldn't stop with one.
Wishing you the happiest of holidays!
Joan

Mark your quilting design the easy way.

I'm back. I've been hiding in my sewing room creating new quilt patterns for an upcoming book. Heres another tip I'd like to share with you. I purchased a roll of examination paper from my local clinic. This paper is the type they use on examination tables. It's 18" wide. I cut the paper the same size as my border. Next I trace my quilting design onto the paper. Pin the traced design to your border and machine stitch on the traced lines. The last step. Tear the paper away. Works great for me. No marking the quilt and I don't have to piece the paper together. It's wide and long enough to accomadate any size quilt. Plus it's very reasonable. If you can't find a doctors office or clinic willing to sell a roll try a medical supply house. Try this on blocks too.
Have fun on your quilting journey.
Joan

No More Wavy Quilt Borders.

The following instructions guide you on how to attach borders eliminating the waves or as some call them lettuce leaf edges.

STEP 1- Measure the width of your quilt top. This is your top and bottom border measurement.

STEP 2- Place a straight pin on the wrong side of one end of a border strip about 1 inch from the edge. Measuring from this pin place a second straight pin marking your border measurement. Fold border in half crosswise, matching pins, to find the center and mark it with a pin.

Repeat steps 1 & 2 with another border strip. These are the top and bottom borders.

STEP 3- Find the center of your quilt top by folding it in half and marking it with a pin.

With right sides together, and raw edges matching, pin the marked border to the top of your quilt matching the center pins and the side pins to the quilt edges. Sew the border on and press seams to the border. Using a rotary cutter and ruler cut the border even with the quilt top. Repeat for bottom border.

Repeat the above instructions to attach the side borders except your side border measurements on the quilt top will include the top and bottom borders. After these borders have been attached and pressed cut them even with the top and bottom borders using a rotary cutter and ruler.

This has worked for me.

Happy quilting, Joan